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visited Oz lately? x




Now available in book form!  


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In the early years of the 20th Century, juvenile-book entrepreneur Edward Stratemeyer conceived a series of books aimed at young boys chronicling the adventures of a brilliant teenage inventor by the name of Tom Swift. Written by several authors (mainly Howard R. Garis of "Uncle Wiggly" fame) and issued under the series pseudonym "Victor Appleton," the forty volumes (1910-1941) were remarkably popular, and may be said to have influenced a generation of budding geniuses. In 1954 the heirs of Stratemeyer resumed the series: but now it was The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures, its hero the even more brilliant son of the original Tom Swift (who still made appearances as the eminence gris of the Swifts' modern high-tech invention facility, of which he was the CEO), and the pseudonymous author was now "Victor Appleton II" (for the most part a gifted storyteller named James Duncan Lawrence). Straddling the fondly-remembered era of nuclear subs, supersonic jets, color TVs, big-finned cars, and sputniks, Tom Jr. and his supporting cast lived on for thirty-four volumes of their own, enduring the Summer of Love and the "Tom Swifties" joke craze, finally succumbing to the world's mounting cynicism in 1971. But Tom Swift Jr. lives on—in our hearts, in our childhood affections, in the science classes he helped us pass once upon a time. And now he lives on here, in a series of full-length tales that are tribute, parody, and modern resurrection. The titles and tales may look familiar, but be warned: this is an alternate-reality Tom Swift, great-grandson of the first one, living today in a world where Tom Jr. never existed. In other words, it's updated-for-modern-readers time, with a twist or two. Join Tom and his pal Bud Barclay in these thrilling unauthorized stories "for today's science-minded boys!" 

 M.O. access restricted/private
Who is the Mysterious Other? Whether using the name Tom Ippolito, Bob Finnan, Thomas R. Ippolito, or Robert W. Finnan, the world of Tom Swift and Stratemeyer boys series collecting has been touched by some distinctive individuals, moderators of discussion groups. here's the draft, go ahead and delete after you're done playing with it--this is like a Wiki sandbox, I guess. Nothing here to convince anyone of anything, but speculative musings are a good preliminary, and the evidence is out there, after
all, in public places for anyone to see. As to the conclusion a person might draw, well. You might say, yeah, same guy. But others? Most people look for reasons and motives. So it just sits there, making no claims. This monograph, private and nonpublished, applies the methods of critical literary investigation to a very minor topic in literary scholarship. It makes no charges, alleges no illegalities.